When Li Tai came to Shicheng, Cai Dabao and several other Xiangyang officials were already waiting here.

"I've seen the general."

When he entered the courtesy, Cai Dabao lowered his head, deliberately avoiding Li Tai's sight, and he looked like a thief.

Li Tai was not in a good mood when he saw these Xiangyang subordinate officials, so he didn't say much to greet, and said directly: "Although I don't have the right to ask about the military and political affairs of Xiangyang, but the two places are close to each other, and Xiangyang suddenly raised troops, may I ask Cai to join the army, what does King Liang want!" ”

Cai Dabao knew that he was wrong, and after hearing Li Tai's question, his head hung lower, and he was silent for a moment before replying: "The king lost another relative a few days ago, and the general should know about this matter." This time Xiangyang raised troops, there was no far-sighted plan, but the king hated the thieves and was eager to get rid of the ugliness of Jiangling! is so ugly and ashamed, so he didn't send an envoy to inform the general. ”

It was obvious that this statement had been drawn up early in the morning, and Li Tai did not say anything more after listening to it, and after sneering a few times, he entered the city first. And Cai Dabao and the others also knew that it was difficult to pass perfunctorily, so after seeing this, they also hurriedly followed Li Tai's personal army into the city together.

Although he was quite unhappy with King Liang's attitude in his heart, Cai Dabao had taken more care of his father when he was in Xiangyang, and Li Tai still wanted to give Cai Dabao some face, and after entering the city, he invited him to dine at the house.

During the meal, Cai Dabao secretly peeked at Li Tai's expression, and after hesitating again and again, he still spoke: "If the general is worried about Hou Jingchao's army, the king also has a plan for this matter, this time the army will only be punished, Xiangdong will be destroyed, and everything in Jiangling will be the same as before, the king will also cooperate with the general and will fight the chaos......"

"Ha, Cai joined the army and deceived me into ignorance? The chaotic army is big, it's your Liang family's national thief, what does it have to do with me? ”

After Li Tai heard this, the anger in his heart was a little uncontrollable, and when he asked angrily, he saw Cai Dabao's expression of shame, so he sighed again, and then lowered his voice and said slowly: "I know that this is not Cai Senjun's intention to say me, but even if it is King Liang, it is really hurtful to make such a false statement!"

King Liang is not stupid, of course he has his own opinions on everything, although I have a good relationship with King Liang, but there is no reason to obstruct the plan with personal feelings. If King Liang feels that this is imperative, he will definitely be able to succeed immediately, since he doesn't need to conspire with me, he doesn't have to tell me about the aftermath.

Although I am a close friend of King Liang and a frontier minister of the Great Wei, if King Liang can succeed, although I wish to congratulate him privately, I cannot be without a border defense plan. ”

Since they met, it was the first time Cai Dabao had seen Li Tai lose his temper due to anger in front of him, although the angry emotions quickly subsided, but it also showed how disappointed and dissatisfied he was in this incident.

Although Cai Dabao also persuaded many times before King Liang raised his troops, he still failed to persuade him after all.

At this time, when facing the angry Li Tai, he couldn't clear himself because King Liang was the final decision-maker, Li Tai still did not rude to him, which also made him feel ashamed, and after a little groaning, he avoided the seat and avoided the crown, bowed deeply to Li Tai and said in a deep voice: "The general is like a god with soldiers, and he is invincible in the situation." I would like to ask how the general will deal with himself in this chaos? Why did you enter the Stone City this time? I hope that the general can take care of the old feelings and give a little guidance for reference. ”

"Xiangdong bullied relatives and mutilated compatriots, it is true that there is a loss of virtue, but today's decisive battle with thieves is related to the survival of the community, and whether Liang Tong can succeed or not. King Liang is now fighting with family hatred and personal hatred, can he meet the expectations of the public? Abandoning oneself to one's family and country in this way is not an act of righteousness, but an atrocity! ”

The rebellion of the Eight Kings in the Western Jin Dynasty can be said to be the most vicious clan cannibalism in ancient and modern times, not only because this rebellion directly triggered the chaos of the Five Hu Rebellion and the Northern and Southern Dynasties for hundreds of years, but also because these people who participated in the rebellion completely put their private power desires above the interests of the family and the country, blasphemed the public weapons, and isolated themselves from the world, making the Sima family the ugliest and most heinous political family in history.

Of course, Li Tai doesn't care about the survival of the Liang dynasty, but he will definitely not choose a Southern Liang clan that is isolated from the hearts of the people in Jiangnan as the object of cooperation, so when Cai Dabao asked, he also said this point without concealment: "Loyalty is against the ear, good medicine is bitter, I know that the king of Liang has never lost his ambition to help, take advantage of this to get lost, it is still easy to return, if you know your mistake and go far, although you are reluctant, you must also break off!"

Even though King Liang was confident that he could first settle Jiangling and then defeat the rebellious army, I didn't dare to attribute the safety of the soldiers and civilians of Jingfu to this conceited madness. Only by locking in the shape and controlling the fighter automatically, so that I can advance and retreat and not rely on the time, can I live up to the top.

Since Cai asked me, I no longer hid it, and before entering Shicheng, I had sent troops to Jiangling, cut soil in Jiangbei and Handong, and set up my own border defense. If the king of Xiangdong agrees to the invitation, then from now on, you will wait for the army to decide your life and death in the west of the Han Dynasty, and I can only lead the public to watch the situation. ”

Although he had expected it in his heart, when he heard from Li Tai that he would give up the support for Xiangyang and let them fight to the death with the Jiangling Military Government and Hou Jing's chaotic army, Cai Dabao couldn't help but be full of gloom.

He knew that King Liang's idea was to take advantage of Jiangling's self-care to attack and capture Jiangling first, and then use this as a temptation to let Li Taiye lead his army to join in and fight Hou Jing's rebellious army with him.

But such an idea is full of wishful thinking, especially a shrewd person like Li Tai, who has an accurate judgment of the situation and is like a prophet, it is even more impossible for King Liang to pinch his nose and go.

Sure enough, Li Tai quickly found his position in this seemingly complicated situation, put himself in a position of sitting on a mountain and watching the tiger fight, let several parties fight and fight, and in the end, no matter which side wins, he must also pay tribute to him, and even need to give up some of the spoils in exchange for a friendly attitude.

Although he let Xiangyang fend for himself, Cai Dabao also knew that it was difficult to find fault with him morally, after all, this move was his own king's insistence on going his own way and conspiring with him, so the other party naturally did not take the initiative to cooperate with his obligations.

When he learned of Li Tai's plan, Cai Dabao had no intention of staying any longer, and hurriedly returned to Wuning City, where King Liang's army was stationed.

"Although he is a close friend, in the final analysis, Li Boshan still despises me, thinking that I can't replace Xiangdong to control the situation."

When King Liang heard Cai Dabao relay Li Tai's plan, although he was also shocked in his heart, he was more ashamed, and said in a deep voice: "No matter what his plan is, I will be canonized by the Western Dynasty after all, if I can really quickly determine Jiangling, Li Boshan must also cooperate, and cannot sit back and watch Hou Jing's rebellious army take away Jiangling!" ”

Seeing that the king was still stubborn, Cai Dabao sighed again: "General Li has already sent an envoy to Jiangling to claim land, if the king of Xiangdong wants to protect himself and directly cedes Yongfu and Xiangyang to Wei, then is it necessary for the Western Dynasty to treat the king politely?" ”

"W-How is this possible! What is the benefit of cutting off Xiangyang to Jiangling? Besides, I am ......"

Hearing the possibility described by Cai Dabao, King Liang suddenly panicked, first shook his head again and again, and then looked at Cai Dabao and said in a bitter voice: "But, but my text has been passed on to all parties, and now the army is about to retreat before even seeing the head of Jiangling City, isn't it a laughing stock in the world?" ”

"The only way to do this is that the king should go to Shicheng to visit General Li as soon as possible, and it is most appropriate to listen to his advice to settle the dispute."

Cai Dabao didn't agree with attacking Jiangling at this time, but seeing that King Liang had remorse, he hurriedly spoke again.

However, this plan was still a little unacceptable to King Liang, and just when he was still hesitating, the news came from Xiangyang that the Jingzhou boat division in the upper reaches of the Han River was coming down the river and was about to arrive in Xiangyang.

This suddenly made King Liang vigilant, and he also realized that Li Tai's foreword was not a joke, and he may have been ready to give up cooperating with him.

Although he didn't say it, the military support from the Jingzhou Governor's Mansion was also one of the confidence of King Liang to dare to raise troops to seize Jiangling, and after learning of this situation, King Liang did not dare to delay any longer, so he listened to Cai Dabao's advice and went to Shicheng in person, hoping to seek Li Tai's understanding.

Cai Dabao is still very level, at least he has a deep understanding of the king of Xiangdong. As long as Li Tai can solve the army of Xiao Jing, the king of Liang, and ensure that Hou Jing's army does not attack Jiangling from Jiangbei, then the king of Xiangdong will admit his possession of Xiangyang!

When King Liang arrived in Shicheng, Li Tai was also considering whether to give up this restless guy and let the Jingzhou Governor's Mansion directly control Xiangyang? After all, when he dispatched all the people, he actually regarded this as an option in his heart.

However, after weighing it up, he gave up on this more tempting idea. The north and the south have been divided and separated for a long time, and if the north wants to unify the south, it is a low-cost plan to support puppets gradually, especially now that he is not the speaker of the Western Wei Dynasty, it is even more necessary to use such an intermediary.

King Liang's bloodline identity is sufficient, and they also have a good working foundation with each other, although this time it is out of control once, but if it is replaced by others in Nanliang, it is estimated that it will only be more pulled. And at the moment, he can't get in touch with a substitute who is more weighty than King Liang's identity, although there is still a Xiao Yuanzheng in his hand, but it is obviously not suitable.

So when King Liang came to Shicheng to apologize sincerely, Li Tai also forgave him quite generously and did not delve into it. And when King Liang proposed that he was making too much trouble, and it was not good to calm things down directly, Li Tai also made arrangements for this.

He proposed that after the return of King Liang, a grand funeral would be held for Xiao Lun, the king of Shaoling, and asked the king of Xiangdong to send his son and ministers to attend the funeral of King Shaoling. In this way, King Liang's dignity can also be preserved, and it also gives people the impression of being deeply righteous, fair and upright.

(End of chapter)